Joan Carol Gratz (born 1941) is an American artist, animator, and filmmaker who specializes in clay painting. Gratz is best known for her 1992 Oscar-winning animated short film Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase.[1][2]
Joan C. Gratz | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1941 (age 82–83) |
| Occupation(s) | Artist, Animator, Film director, Producer |
| Known for | Animation pioneer with technique in claypainting |
Early life
editIn 1941, Gratz was born in Burbank, California. Gratz's father was an electrical engineer and her mother was an English teacher. From a young age she had an interest in art.
Education
editWhile Gratz was a student in architecture, she began painting. Gratz was filming her painting process. In 1969, Gratz obtained a degree in professional architecture at the University of California, Los Angeles.[3] Before graduating, Gratz began to experiment with the possibilities of animation and started to explore the idea of "making paintings breathe" with a technique she explained as "clay painting". After graduating, she moved to Oregon, making a living by creating puppets and poster graphics.[1]
Career
editIn 1976, Gratz was asked to work for Will Vinton in the new up and coming Will Vinton Studios,[1] and began working in the film industry during the production of Rip Van Winkle (1978).[4] During her time at Vinton Studios, Gratz worked on many films as an animator, but in 1987 she decided to work as a freelance animator and filmmaker due to issues involved with collaborative film projects, and not receiving the proper credit for her work.[1] In 1987, Gratz established Gratzfilm, her own studio to direct and produce her films.[3]
Once a freelance animator and filmmaker, Gratz continued to be represented by Vinton Studio,[1] and her success led her to receive commissions for commercials from large companies such as Coca-Cola.[5] In 1990, Gratz animated a commercial for United Airlines entitled Natural, which consisted of her clay painting technique.[6]
After eight years of planning and researching, and two years of working through the creation and animation process, Gratz completed her film Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase in 1992.[7] The title of this seven minute long film[8] combines the titles of Leonardo DaVinci's famous painting, the Mona Lisa (1503), and Marcel Duchamp's iconic modernist piece, Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 (1919).[9] [7] Consisting of fifty-five[7] twentieth-century paintings, Gratz uses her clay painting technique to present her audience with the history and evolution of modern art,[10] beginning with Impressionism, and continuing until the Pop Art movement and Hyperrealism[7] through metamorphic transitions between each work of art.[1] The sound and music for the film were provided by composer Jamie Haggerty and Chel White.[7] It won the 1992 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film,[7] and won many other awards at various film festivals around the world.[5]
In 1993, Gratz co-directed and animated Pro and Con with Joanne Priestly.[1] Using mixed media including writing and calligraphy, and creating through black clay on white backgrounds, Pro and Con illustrates a docudrama about prison life seen through the eyes of a prisoner and a corrections officer.[1]
Gratz is also an author. In June 2014, Gratz was a writer and illustrator of My Tesla: A love story of a mouse and her car, a disguised children book for adults.[11][12]
Joan C. Gratz is featured as one of six interviewees in Martin Cooper's feature documentary History, Mystery & Odyssey: The Lives and Work of Six Portland Animators (2023). The other interviewees are Joanna Priestley, Chel White, Jim Blashfield, Rose Bond and Zak Margolis.[13] The film premiered at the 2023 Ottawa International Animation Festival.[14]
Accolades
editAt the Academy Awards, Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase (1992) won an Oscar for the Best Animated Short Film in 1993.[15][5]
Filmography
editDirector and producer
edit- 1988 Candyjam - Director[16]
- 1992 Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase - Director [17][18]
- 1993 Pro and Con (co-director)
- 2010 Kubla Kan
- 2014 Lost and Found
- 2016 Primal Flux - Director[19]
- 2020 No Leaders Please - Director[20][21]
As animator
editSee also
edit- Clay painting
- Loving Vincent, a 2013 animated film similar in technique
- Will Vinton
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h Pilling, Jayne (1992). Woman and Animation. London: British Film Institute. p. 123. ISBN 0-85170-377-1.
- ^ 1993|Oscars.org
- ^ a b Zahed, Ramon (July 11, 2013). "ShortsHD Offers Special Spitlight on Joan Gratz". Retrieved May 20, 2019.
- ^ Frierson, Michael (1994). Clay Animation. New York: Twayne Publishers. p. 26.
- ^ a b c Sarson, Katrina (April 27, 2017). "Animator Joan Gratz Embraces Technology To Create Her Newest Films". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Archived from the original on December 4, 2017. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
- ^ Great Women Animators
- ^ a b c d e f Halliday, Ayun (May 27, 2017). "Take a Trip Through the History of Modern Art with the Oscar-winning Animation Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase". Open Culture. Retrieved January 30, 2018.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Frierson, Michael (1994). Clay Animation. New York: Twayne Publishers. p. 27.
- ^ 1993 Mona Lisa Descending A Staircase: Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming: Internet Archive
- ^ Frierson, Michael (1994). Clay Animation. New York: Twayne Publishing. p. 29.
- ^ "My Tesla: A love story of a mouse and her car by Joan C. Gratz". goodreads.com. June 19, 2014. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
- ^ "Women in Animation:Joan C. Gratz, Part 2". smudgeanimation.blogspot.com. March 15, 2016. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
- ^ Six of Portland’s most gifted animators are the focus of a new documentary
- ^ Six Portland-Based Animators Step In Front Of The Camera
- ^ Short Film Winners: 1993 Oscars
- ^ "Candyjam (1988)". IMDb. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
- ^ "Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase (1992)". IMDb. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
- ^ Parker, Charley (July 30, 2006). "Joan C. Gratz". Lines and Colors. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
- ^ "Primal Flux". nwfilm.org. 13 October 2016. Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
- ^ "No Leaders Please". Spark Animation. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
- ^ "No Leaders Please". IMDb. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
- ^ The Creation on Internet Archive